Who put the BWOMP in the BOP-boo-FZZZZT-eee-BWAAAWAWAW?

March 7, 2011 11:53 AM

I'm trying to pull old Ensoniq SQ-80 sequencer files from ancient floppies, and I have a few questions.

I have this fabulous SQ-80 sequencer conversion software from Giebler Enterprises, which I can install and (seemingly) run with no problem on an ancient PC here at work.

Unfortunately, I can't get the computer to mount the actual SQ-80 disks. I don't desperately need to retrieve the sequences themselves, but I would at least like to be able to look at the file dates so I can determine when precisely the songs were written.

Way back in the dark ages, I seem to remember this program actually working on an old IBM PS/2 I had sometime in the mid-'90s. But I'm wondering if this computer's inability to read the disks has to do with:
- Age of the diskettes (1991-1997);
- Specific disk type (Double Density) vs. the type of drive in the PC;
- File structure of the SQ-80 vs. the file structure of DOS/PC;
- Some broken functionality of the program that I'm not detecting.

I am aware that perhaps the disks are just too old and the data is irretrievable. But I'm stubborn, so... is there any other program which will pull any raw data from the disks, regardless of whether the PC knows what to do with them? Is there any way just to look at the file dates, regardless of whether I want to open them or not? And is there enough of a difference in disk drives that the HD/DD thing may be a real problem?

(Getting hold of an SQ-80 won't help, because the keyboard can't display things like file creation dates and such.)

Thanks!

posted by mykescipark to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

I'm pretty certain you could take a straight dump of the contents using dd on linux. The command would look something like "dd if=/dev/floppy0 out=myfile.dump bs=512".

Here's some information about a different synth that apparently used the same disk controller.
posted by Netzapper at 12:04 PM on March 7, 2011

I wouldn't expect a DD vs. HD problem, but the manual for the SQ-80 implies that it uses its own file system as opposed to a FAT12 or similar.

There is a Linux package called SQ80 Toolkit which claims to read SQ80 disks.
posted by mkb at 12:22 PM on March 7, 2011

What operating system is the ancient PC you're running at work using? Per the Giebler web site, you have to be using Windows or MS-DOS *earlier* than Windows 2000. Does the machine have Windows98 or earlier on it?

If the machine doesn't use Windows98 or earlier, you could try booting the machine into FreeDOS and seeing if the software will work there.

You can almost invariable copy the materials off of the disks for archival purposes using dd in linux, but that will just give you the equivalent of a backup disk image, not something that you can actually manipulate files around on. In linux, SQ80 toolkit would likely be the solution. You could try burning a Knoppix CD to boot into Linux quickly and easily.

More information on the PC at work would be helpful, though.
posted by eschatfische at 12:33 PM on March 7, 2011

Response by poster: eschatfische, I was hoping that wouldn't be the issue, but you may be right. The PC in question is running xp. (We might have an even older one around, but that's verging on dumpster-diving.)

Would FreeDOS or Linux be the best solution here? I'll install whatever I need to in either case.
posted by mykescipark at 2:50 PM on March 7, 2011

I'd probably try FreeDOS (or a Windows9x machine) first. It looks like with the SQ80 Toolkit, not only will you have to wrestle with Linux, you'll then have to use SQ80 Toolkit to get the files off of the disk, transfer them to a USB stick, and then run this software on a Windows machine to convert them to MIDI. If you can get the Giebler software running, it may well be an easier process.
posted by eschatfische at 3:20 PM on March 7, 2011

Could you build a Win 98 VM and mount the floppy within?
posted by starscream at 7:27 AM on March 8, 2011